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Eurovision Song Contest 1999
|withdraw = |vote = Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs |winner = Charlotte Nilsson - "Take Me To Your Heaven" |image = |Theme = -- |semi = -- |semi1 = -- |semi2 = -- |conductor = -- |director = -- |broadcaster = IBA |opening = -- |debut = -- |nul = -- |previous = 1998 |next = 2000}} The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was the 44th in the series, and the final contest of the 20th century. Held on 29 May 1999 in Jerusalem, Israel after Dana International won the contest the previous year in Birmingham, the venue for the contest was the Ussishkin Auditorium at the International Convention Center (formerly the Binyanei Ha'ouma), the same venue that hosted the 1979 contest. Television news anchor Yigal Ravid, singer and 1992 contestant Dafna Dekel and model/actress Sigal Shachmon were the show's hosts, and it was the first time that three presenters were used to host the Contest (presenter trios would later become frequent beginning in 2010). Israel's two previous winners, Izhar Cohen, who won in 1978 with A-Ba-Ni-Bi and Milk and Honey's Gali Atari who won it the year after with Hallelujah, attended as guests of honor. Two rule changes were added to this year's contest. The first was the relaxation of the language rule, meaning countries could perform in any language that they wanted. The second was that with the abolition of the orchestra, live music was no longer required and backing tracks became standard. The winner of the Contest was Charlotte Nilsson, representing Sweden with Take Me To Your Heaven (Tusen Och En Natt in the Melodifestivalen), which scored 163 points. This was Sweden's fourth win in the Contest and the second in the 1990s (after Carola's win for Sweden in 1991). At the end of the contest, the hosts invited all of the artists on stage and together they performed a group rendition of "Hallelujah" as a tribute to the victims of the Balkan War. Format In the run-up to the Contest, many speculated that it would not be held in Israel, but would be moved to either Malta or the United Kingdom again. This came about after major concerns over funding for the event from the Israeli government arose, alongside the opposition from Orthodox Jews that they would attempt to stop the Contest from coming to Israel after Dana International won the previous year's Contest. This, however, didn't stop the IBA or the organising team of the event, and the International Convention Center in Jerusalem was selected as the venue for the 44th Eurovision Song Contest. Stage What's interesting about the actual stage, is that it has signs of the Zodiac around the centre, which moves around like a ship's wheel. No other stage has had this as far as what is known. The stage design was said to reflect the passage of time with the coming of the new millennium. Gallery AisteLive.jpg|Aistė Smilgevičiūtė|link=Aistė Smilgevičiūtė Vanessa Chinitor.jpg|Vanessa Chinitor|link=Vanessa Chinitor 1999Lydia.jpg|Lydia|link=Lydia Fernández doris dragovic.jpg|Doris Dragović|link=Doris Dragović mistik.jpg|Tuğba Önal & Grup Mistik|link=Tuğba Önal & Grup Mistik precious.jpg|Precious|link=Precious stigeijk.jpg|Stig Van Eijk|link=Stig Van Eijk svajger.jpg|Darja Svajger|link=Darja Svajger angelidou.jpg|Marlain Angelidou|link=Marlain Angelidou trinemichael.jpg|Trine Jepsen & Michael Teschl times three.jpg|Times Three|link=Times Three surpriz99.jpg|Sürpriz|link=Sürpriz singer99.jpg|Bobbie Singer|link=Bobbie Singer selma99.jpg|Selma Björnsdóttir|link=Selma Björnsdóttir rui.jpg|Rui Bandeira|link=Rui Bandeira perrelli.jpg|Charlotte Jensen (née Nilsson)|link=Charlotte Jensen Nayah.jpg|Nayah|link=Nayah mullans.jpg|The Mullans|link=The Mullans Mietek.jpg|Mietek Szcześniak|link=Mietek Szcześniak marlayne99.jpg|Marleen van den Broek|link=Marleen van den Broek eden99.jpg|Eden|link=Eden Participants Category:Israel Category:Sweden Category:Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Category:20th Century Eurovision Category:Rules changes